UPCOMING WEBINAR: New Advances in Research for Recovery after SCI
(ALREADY PAST)
Presented by
|
Jeffrey D. Macklis, MD Harvard Stem Cell Institute Harvard University Harvard Medical School |
Lisa McKerracher, Ph.D. BioAxone BioSciences, Inc. |
|
Frank Reynolds InVivo Therapeutics
|
Angus McQuilken Mass. Life Sciences Center |
Thursday, June 13, 2013
6:30-8:00 PM Eastern Time
Register to attend Free Online Webcast and Live Chat
(http://www.bu.edu/nerscic/
or contact:
Judi Zazula at judiz@bu.edu
866-607-1804 (toll-free)
Attendees will be able to:
· Understand how the corticospinal nerve injury contributes to SCI disabilities, and how it might be repaired.
· Understand what new treatment options based on biomaterials will be available for SCI patients in the near future.
· Learn about the 10-year, $1-billion MA Life Sciences Initiative and its relevance to the SCI community.
· Learn about the current state of drug development to treat SCI.
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About this month’s speakers and their presentations:
Jeffrey Macklis, MD, Harvard Stem Cell institute, Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University, and Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School, will discuss the basic neurons and circuitry that connect the brain to the spinal cord. He will talk about the kinds of nerve injuries that are central to loss of muscle strength in SCI. Repair, regeneration, and/or replacement of these neurons by developmental and stem cell biology might provide useful, real-world therapies for real people who have lost motor function and bowel/bladder control due to SCI. Dr. Macklis will highlight a brand new set of approaches that his lab is using to pursue this goal.
Lisa McKerracher, PhD, Founder, BioAxone Biosciences, will present on some studies showing that neurons in the spinal cord have the capacity for regeneration and repair. She will also describe BioAxone’s efforts to develop a drug called Cethrin™. Cethrin is new therapeutic protein in Phase II clinical development for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury. It has shown exceptional promise in promoting motor recovery in quadriplegic patients. BioAxone Biosciences Inc. is a privately owned American Corporation with a focus on bringing drugs to market for unmet medical needs.
Angus McQuilken, Vice President for Communications & Marketing at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, will present on the investments being made by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center that relate to SCI research and patient treatment. He will talk about the state’s 10-year, $1-billion Life Sciences Initiative and its relevance to the SCI community. The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Center’s mission is to create jobs in the life sciences and support vital scientific research that will improve the human condition.
Frank Reynolds, Co-Founder, InVivo Therapeutics, will talk about the relationship of biomaterials to SCI treatments. Whether minimizing secondary injury in the weeks after the primary injury, or supporting neuroplasticity during the patient’s recovery, biomaterial based interventions led by neuroscientists and chemical engineers from MIT are providing new ideas on how SCI patients will be treated in the near future. InVivo’s technologies integrate multiple strategies involving biomaterials, FDA approved drugs, growth factors, and human neural stem cells. Mr. Reynolds will discuss these technologies as well as their impact on SCI patients.
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New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center